


I never thought three was a crowd.

by sofiislosthere



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M SOING I'M SORRY, M/M, Multi, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2018-03-10 10:13:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3286535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sofiislosthere/pseuds/sofiislosthere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, completely robbing Viella's idea, here is a poor attempt at what this au could have been.<br/>Marco is a new teacher, Jean is sorting his life out and Eren, Eren is just trying to pass his classes without having a heart attack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Marco

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Viella for letting me ruin her perfect au. You should all see her art and why this was so necessary. It's amazing.  
> Not just this au, but everything.  
> (http://viella-art.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read it. It will be bumpy, I just hope you enjoy.

Trost University was a very well known establishment. Mostly because of the wide range of careers that they offered just as how much they cared for their students. They had careers from sports to art, sciences to philosophy and pretty much everything in between. 

It was mostly because of this that Marco had decided to study there, and now, a year and a half after graduating, he was back. He had just finished his training as student-teacher for an entire semester, under the wings of the one and only Hanji Zoe. Only now, he was about to go and start his very first class as an actual teacher. 

Marco Bodt was tall, broad, and very young. He was only 27 years old and was a math teacher. Most of his friends made fun of him, for being a nerd and a genius, but throwing everything of that away to become a teacher. 

"You could be a millionaire Marco! A MILLIONAIRE!" was what they usually told him, but Marco was sure of his decision. Teaching seemed like the way to go, sharing knowledge with the future generations, making student believe in themselves just like his own teachers had done with him. It seems important, even if no one else though that way. 

 

But at this exact moment, as the freckled teacher walked over to his classroom, he was starting to doubt himself. 

Young people could be scary and defiant. Maybe they wouldn't take him seriously and he wouldn't be able to teach like he had always dreamed of. 

He started to sweat and he felt just a little dizzy. He tried to loosen up the collar of the button-down shirt under his vest. He was suddenly very hot. 

He stopped in front of the door, taking a deep breath to steady himself and opened it. 

 

The place was mostly empty, maybe a dozen students spread along the big room. They didn't look scary or threatening, just mostly bored and sleep deprived. 

It was kind of funny really, Marco thought, as he remembered being exactly like that just a few years ago. 

 

He walked to his desk and put his very heavy bag on top, and placed the enormous amount of papers down from his sore arms. 

Marco started to make them into piles, all the different things he needed to hand them down settled on his desk as he waited for all the students to arrive.

 

Marci watched them from his chair, a weird sort of nostalgia taking over him as he watched their interactions. It wasn't easy to be a freshman, but Marco believed in his students, even if he didn't know them yet. 

 

With a new sort of enthusiasm, Marco got out of his chair, bringing some of the papers with him and made his way to the closest student to his desk. 

He was going to be a hard one, if Marco was honest with himself. He was sprawled over his space, big green hoodie covering his face as he slept peacefully and without a care. Marco knew that kind of people when he was in school, and they usually were difficult. 

But Marco, being his good and perseverant self, promised himself to take care of all his student, even the ones that would be a little more work. 

 

So, he decided to wake the young man up, since most of his students seemed to be filtering in anyway. 

With a light tap to the shoulder, the guy rose from between his arms, opening big green eyes that blinked at him in confusion. 

 

"Hey there. Would you - uhhh- would you mind helping me with these?" 

 

The guy stared up at him, giving him a once over, then again, after finally looking back into Marco's eyes. 

 

He took a deep breath and smirked at the teacher "You know, I never thought that people with button downs and vest only existed in like, retirement houses and suburban mother's wet dreams, and yet, here you are" 

 

Marco was taken aback by this, his mouth falling open, and… yeah.. that was a blush coming up his face. 

 

"E-excuse me?" 

 

"I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but, you know, it's very unusual. Good luck you're cute though, or people would think you're a nerd, or the teacher's pet." 

 

He then looked at the papers that had been offered to him, and suddenly his eyes were back at Marco's face. 

 

"Wait, you're not the teacher's pet are you? Oh my god dude that was fast! I haven't even seen the teacher yet!" 

 

Marco was still shocked, his mouth apparently unable to form any kind of words as his mind was on overdrive. This was definitely NOT how he thought his teaching experience would start. 

The only thing he managed to do was to shake the stack of papers in his hands and the guy seemed to get the idea. 

 

"Okay okay. I'll help you this time, mostly because you're actually hot beneath those grandpa clothes." 

 

The guy stood up and started handing the papers to the students around him, leaving Marco to walk robotically to the other side to do the same thing. 

 

Once they were finally over, and every student had a clump of papers to fill and put away, Marco walked up to his desk and cleared his throat. 

All eyes were on him now and he walked up to the closest row of desks. 

 

He closed his eyes and prepared himself mentally for this. He had practiced this in front of his mirror for at least a week now. He was ready. It was time. 

 

"Good morning to you all." he said, bringing all the attention back to himself "I'm Mr. Bodt and I'll be your maths teacher during this semester." He clapped his hands together and smiled broadly, finally feeling the excitement of his first day. "And I hope we have a great time together" 

 

Marco sighed in relief as he saw this students smiling and some of them saying hi back to him. He looked back at the guy who had helped him with the handouts, and he glanced just in time to watch him drop his jaw and gawk at him with the most impressive blush he had ever seen. He scoffed a laugh and continued his speech. 

 

_Well, here we go then._

 

_\- - - -_

 

 

Two hours later, and Marco was saying goodbye to his students, a few of them queuing by his desk, to probably ask a few things and clear some doubts. 

 

Marco talked to them and answered all of theirs questions while he packed back up, looking at the clock on the wall to make sure he wasn't taking time from the next class. 

He waved goodbye to the last group of students and grabbed his bag. He was on his way to the teacher's lounge to get a big cup of coffee and some silence. Hopefully some of his friends would be there already, to take away the edge of his first day.

 

But just as he closed the door and rearranged his bag and still alarming stack of papers in hand, he saw a particular green hoodie just to his side. 

He looked to the side and yes, that was the guy from before, leaning on the wall, a sheepish expression stuck to his face as he fidgeted with the end of his too big of a hoodie. 

 

"Can I help you...uhh..." 

 

"Eren. Eren Jaeger" the guy said, still not meeting Marco's eyes. 

 

"Right. What can I do for you Mr. Jaeger?" 

 

The guy was twisting his hands together, obviously very uncomfortable with the situation. Marco felt for him, and was about to say something when the guy, Eren, talked again. 

 

"I just, I wanted to a-apologize for huh, you know, before. I didn't, I mean I didn't _know_ and ugh-" He pressed his hands to his eyes and scrubbed them a little too forcefully. 

 

"I'm just sorry okay? How the fuc- I mean hell? was I supposed to know you were the teacher? Like I just - if I had known I woudn't-" 

 

Marco cut off his rant by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

 

"Don't worry. I get it, it was a mistake. You couldn't have possibly seen me get in the room while you were sleeping so soundly" Marco said, smiling at his student, maybe a little too casually but he was trying to make the guy feel al title better. 

 

Eren just looked at him with wide eyes and then turned a few shades of red darker. It was kind of endearing really. 

 

"I.. Oh god you saw me sleeping. Listen dude, uhhh I mean Mr. Bodt. I'm just really sorry for everything. Can we just.. I don't know, start over?" 

 

The way those big green eyes looked at Marco, all expectant and bashful made something inside of him tingle, and he couldn't refuse what Eren had asked him. 

 

"Al right then." He said, before turning back and giving his back to Eren. 

 

The young man just stood there, clearly confused at what was happening, until his teacher finally turned around and faced him. 

 

"Hi." he said, stetting his hand to the confused student. Eren took the hand offered to him and shook it. "I'm Mr. Bodt. Your math teacher". 

 

Eren frowned for a fraction of a second before smiling widely and scoffing a laugh. "Eren Jaeger" he said in return, shaking their hands a little more forcefully. 

 

"Nice to meet you" Marco said, his smile reaching his eyes, making them crinkle. 

 

"Nice to meet you too." Eren responded, his voice a little breathless.

 

"Now, if you excuse me, there's a huge cup of coffee waiting for me somewhere." 

 

Eren smiled, more genuinely this time and let their hands drop. 

"You sure are something Mr. Bodt." he said, starting to walk back. He then turned around and with another sheepish smile, he said 

"Thank you" 

 

That caught Marco off, watching as his student ran down the long hall way, away from him. 

He stared down at his hand, the one he had shook Eren's and smiled. 

 

He turned around and walked towards the teacher's room. He placed his hand over his heart and felt it beating just a little bit faster.

As much as he knew, it could have been the nervousness of his first day. Or at least that's the version he was going for. 

 

 

Little did he know, that just a few feet away, right outside the science building, was one his students clutching at his chest over a big and cozy hoodie the color of a deep forest. 

Eren felt the thumping under his hand and sighed, looking at the sky and bumping his head against the concrete behind him. 

 

"Well _fuck_.." 

 


	2. Jean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean doesn't know what he's doing, but he's here and maybe, just maybe. he isn't that annoyed at his decisions.

Jean was standing in front of the college gates, briefcase in hand and still very confused on how he had ended up here.   
Not even 72 hours before, he was still in France, on a little café in Paris, the one discovered one afternoon and had the perfect macaroons. Since that day, around 8 years ago, Jean stopped there every time he could.   
Except five days ago, when he was there after one call that he did not expect, and everything turned into a big mess.   
Hitch, Jean's ex girlfriend, had called him out of nowhere after a year of them breaking up. Jean didn't know why or what made him answer, even less what made him go there and meet her, but he still did.   
He sat himself over his table, the one with the comfy chair, next to the big window showcasing the parisian life, when he felt a hand over his shoulder.   
There she was, radiant and elegant, like always and something felt instantly wrong. They had a horrible break up, you know, screaming and throwing things at each other if not out of the window.   
Jean had just taken his stuff and hadn't seen her since, which only made this even more confusing.   
The sight of her still made his heart do a little fluttery thing, but he hadn't really missed her though the year. He missed having someone to share his life with, to watch movies at stupid hours of the morning and kiss before leaving to work. 

He stopped his internal rambling when Hitch sat in front of him with a wide grin. They exchanged a few words, small talk to catch up with each other's lives, and then.. the news were finally thrown at him. 

Hitch was getting married, to one of his own friends, not even a whole year after breaking up with him.   
If he was being honest, he didn't really care about them, he was just hurt.   
She wanted him to come to the wedding, be part of the ceremony along his friend as one of the groomsmen, but Jean's mind was elsewhere. 

He started to rethink his life, his decisions, everything he had been doing until this moment. He had an okay-ish job, he still lived with his mom, even if he was 26, well, almost 27 years old.   
All of his friends were either married, getting married, having kids or well doing grown up stuff.   
Hitch was still talking, she had taken his hands between hers as some sort of comfort or something, but Jean wasn't listening.   
He needed to change his life, do something, he just really couldn't be part of that wedding. It was like they were laughing at him, getting engaged and married after such a short time together. It was just.. Jean couldn't do it. So of course, he said the first thing that came to his mind. Something really stupid obviously, and then well… 

"I can't go Hitch, I'm sorry" 

"What? Why? Jean, I know it's a lot to ask, and I'm really sorry for how things turned out between us but think abou-" 

"I'm moving. To America. In less than a week." He was certain he sounded as hollow and unconvincing as he thought, and the look on Hitch only confirmed it. 

"You're moving back to America? Why? When did this happen?" 

"Yeah. For a uhhh… for a .. a JOB! I got a job and I huh, have to leave soon. Like, really soon. In two days actually." 

"Are you serious? How does no one else knows about this?"

"It was all really sudden. I mean I didn't know until very recently" Yeah, like 4 minutes ago, to be honest.

"What a shame. Thomas really wanted you to be there."   
And for a moment, she did look sad. Like she was honestly disappointed and Jean kind of rethought about what had happened.   
But then again, he really didn't want to be there. 

"Yeah, I'm sorry." He said, scratching the short part f his undercut "But hey, congratulations to you guys"   
He tried to put on his most charming smile, but it felt fake. It probably looked fake too. 

Still, Hitch smiled and looked into her purse. She took out a small envelope and handed it to him.   
"Well, here's your invitation. Your spot will still be there if you ever change your mind okay?" 

Jean nodded, and a reluctant smile spread across his face.  
"Yeah. Thanks Hitch" 

She patted his hands one last time, before looking at her watch.  
"Oh my god it's so late already! Sorry Jean, but I have to go. Have a nice trip though. And please send my regards to your dad!" 

And just like that, she was gone, leaving a very dumbfounded Jean behind.   
Jean gave himself half an hour to contemplate his miserable existence before running home and sort out his mess of a life.

 

When Jean got into his place, he kissed his mom on the cheek and went to the internet. He needed to find a job and now. 

 

Three days later and he was there, staring widely at the university in which he would be teaching french thanks to a last moment drop out who left the university to reach out and get pretty much anyone who could talk french and speak it to a hundred kids.   
Jean could do this. He had been an assistant before, managing much more important things than a couple of teens not really trying to learn shit.   
He was still standing and watching though, his legs were not responding for some reason.   
He was he looked like an idiot, standing still with obvious fear all over his face, but he couldn't help it. He just couldn't understand the train of though that convinced him to move across the globe to do a job he wasn't even excited for. 

He would have continued his existential crisis for a long while if it wasn't for the random person who had bumped into him, forcing him to take a few steps forwards and snap out of his trance. 

As soon as he steadied himself, he seemed to come back to himself and turned around, ready to lash to the miserable person who dared to push him.   
His words were lost in his throat though, as soon as his amber eyes glanced at the freckled god who had just spilled his coffee all over his baby blue vest.  
Jean gulped, loudly and opened his mouth. What was he going to say? He didn't remember. The only thing going through his mind were how amazing those biceps were, or how that button-down did nothing to hide the rock hard muscles under it. 

Jean was thirsty and it had nothing to do with the sudden flash of warmth that ran through his body like a knife to the gut. 

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?! Did I spill coffee on you?"

Jean just stared down at himself, looking as sharp as he had when he came by. So with a weak shake of his head, he put at ease the noble stranger. 

"Oh, good. I'm sorry, I really am, but I'm running late and - agh!" 

Jean saw his freckled god look down at himself and he realized he still had on the horrible vest dripping with scalding coffee. 

"Oh my god dude, take that off! You're gonna get burned!" 

Jean threw his briefcase to the side and took the stranger's coffee in his hand, before setting it down too.   
Then, he helped him take off the vest, leaving him with nothing but a crisp button-down with a tiny splotch of coffee on his side. 

"Thank you" the guy said, if a little breathless. It made Jean shiver. 

"Yeah, uhhh, no problem." 

The guy looked back at his watch and screeched.   
"Oh my god! I'm sorry, but I need to go. Thank you for the help!" he basically screamed, waving his hands frantically as he ran into the university grounds. 

"Well" Jean said to himself, " this can't be that bad" 

He took back his briefcase and rearranged himself. He took one secure step forward, this time without even a trace of fear in his body.  
If a smile was spreading over his face, well, it was because his life was finally changing or something. Right?


	3. Eren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's life is so hard...

Eren Jaeger was a first year at Trost University, with no interests or ambitions. It was his first week at college and he still hadn't chosen all of his electives, not really sure of which ones seemed less atrocious than the others.   
He had chosen the basic ones, maths, history, english literature, but nothing really stood out. His father would be furious when he found out he wasn't going to apply for pre-med or some shit like that. He had already been bullied into coming to college by him, he didn't need to take eleven classes ridiculously hard for a career he definitely didn't' want.  
His father should be satisfied with the fact that Mikasa wanted to be a neurosurgeon right? Why did he needed him to do the same shitty job?   
Ugh. 

He was debating his miserable existence when he finally walked up to his first class as a college freshman.   
He should have been nervous, he should have been excited, but really, all he felt was exhausted and already over it.  
At least maths was something that he had always been god, for some odd reason. It shouldn't be that hard. 

He opened the door and looked inside. There were just a few students, no more than ten really, all scattered around the big classroom.  
Eren wasn't in the mood to chat or make friends, he just wanted to sit down and wait for Armin to finally arrive. Also, he knew that Armin was the kind of student to be in the front row, carefully listening to everything the teacher had to say, so without much thought he sat himself over the first row, very close to the etcher's desk.  
He was going to take a nap until class started. What could go wrong. 

Eren had been dreaming of saving humanity from awful creatures that threaten their existence when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He shook a bit, trying to get the annoying feeling out, but then, just like a crashing car, he remembered where he was.  
He sat himself right in a matter of seconds and looked at the stranger staring at him. 

If it wasn't for the very surprising way he had just woken up, he would've swore he as still dreaming.   
Right in front of him was a guy, with tanned skin and a constellation of freckles dusted over his face. He could tell he was tall, at least a few inched taller than him, and his body looked very fit. Even under that awful layer of shirts and vests, he could tell that was the body of a reborn Adonis. 

He looked at him like he was expecting something out of him, and that became clear when said man spoke, his voice sweet and soothing, just like honey. 

"Hey there. Would you - uhhh- would you mind helping me with these?"

Eren heard the words inside his head, but his body couldn't process them, not when he had such a fine specimen right in front of him, looking at him with beautiful brown eyes, the color of coffee in the sunlight.  
Eren couldn't help himself, he looked down at him, once, then twice, making sure to take in every detail of the spectacular men in front of him.  
But then, his brain short circuited and reminded him that hey, the guy said something to you.  
So of course, faced with such things that made his heart stop and his blood to rush to all the worst places, he spat out the first thing that came to mind. 

"You know, I never thought that people with button downs and vest only existed in like, retirement houses and suburban mother's wet dreams, and yet, here you are" 

Eren cringed internally at his own words. How? WHY DID HE EVEN SAY THAT? GOD. He was a such an blabbering idiot every time he was faced with attractive men and cute puppies. It was just the way it always had been. He had never been a good liar, or even a tiny bit subtle.   
That much was obvious when he saw the man open his mouth and close it back up, not coming with any words.   
Leave it to Eren to leave speechless every goddamn crush he could possibly find before scaring them off. Jesus Christ. 

Still, the man finally spoke and there it was, that lovely voice again, even if it was a bit stranded. 

"E-excuse me?" 

Now, Eren thought, this is the moment to make up for his mistake, take the foot out of his north and actually compliment the guy instead of making fun of him.   
Oh and yeah, maybe see what he actually wants. 

"I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but, you know, it's very unusual. Good luck you're cute though, or people would think you're a nerd, or the teacher's pet."

HOW. THE. FUCK. DO. YOU. DO THAT? How do you manage to keep tripping over your own words like that? SERIOUSLY JAEGER GET A GRIP OF YOURSELF. 

The guy just shoved the stack of papers to him, clearly trying for all of this to end and the embarrassment to end. Eren took the hint and took the stack, but as usual, he couldn't help his stupid fucking mouth from screwing him even more.

"Wait, you're not the teacher's pet are you? Oh my god dude that was fast! I haven't even seen the teacher yet!"

The guy blushed even darker and shook his head slightly. Great job Jaeger, he can't even see your face now. Great, just great.  
Still, he stood up and did as asked. 

"Okay okay. I'll help you this time, mostly because you're actually hot beneath those grandpa clothes."

Somebody needed to put something in his mouth and shut it once and for all. Anything. A sock, a ball, maybe two of his fingers…   
NOPE. OKAY. RETREAT. RETREAT.

Eren walked away, wishing his gay thoughts away, as he tried to leave all the embarrassment behind. It didn't work, but at least that way he didn't have to see the cause of his shame face to face anymore.  
Damn that guy for being so good looking that it actually made his brain mush and his mouth to burst.   
Once he was done, he walked back down and sat himself over his seat. Armin still wasn't there and that didn't sit well with him.  
He was about to send him a text when the guy spoke again, ripping his eyes away from his phone.

"Good morning to you all. I'm Mr. Bodt and I'll be your maths teacher during this semester."

Eren felt his own jaw drop all the way to his desk. No. This couldn't be real. No.   
He finally looked at the guy and their eyes met for a fraction of a second. Eren felt his blood rushing quickly to his face, making him sweat under the gaze.  
How had he managed to fuck up so bad already!? Class hadn't even started yet!   
Eren let his head drop between his hands and sighed. This was going to be a lot worse than he had anticipated. 

 

Two extremely long and excruciating hours of trying-not-to-eat-up-his-teacher-with-his-eyes later, Eren was done with maths.   
He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.   
The subject for now wasn't particularly difficult, something he had seen with one of his teachers back in high school, so there was no trouble there. But the fact that he didn't need to pay that much attention only made his mind wander.  
Wander over those well formed biceps and the strength they must have. Eren could bet that Mr. Bodt could easily pick him up and pin him into a wall. Or how the dip of his lower back was perfect and let the bump of his butt to look just right. 

Eren was 90% sure he had spent two hours looking as red as a tomato as he tried and failed to tame his mind.   
Because, not only was he going to see this man almost every day for an entire semester, he had to apologize for his horrible horrible behavior. 

So, inhaling deeply he got out of the classroom and leaned against the cold wall, the coolness was rather refreshing against his flushed face and he huffed.  
This was not how he had intended to start his college experience. 

A few minutes later and Mr. Bodt was walking out the door.   
Eren cleared his throat, and approached him. All he wanted to do was to apologize for everything, ask for a second chance if possible.   
But when those dark eyes were on his again, he felt his heart jump to his throat and closing it. 

"Can I help you uhh" 

"Eren. Eren Jaeger" he said, trying his best to face him, but failing miserably. He felt like a teenager with a crush. God.

"Right. What can I do for you Mr. Jaeger?" 

'Oh there's so much you could do for me Mr. Bodt ' He thought, instantly smacking himself for what his mind was trying to make him say. 

"I just, I wanted to a-apologize for huh, you know, before. I didn't, I mean I didn't know and ugh-"  
Eren wanted to bash his head against the wall. He was never good with words and even worse with apologies. Not to mention that his brain was practically leaking from his ears at this guy's hotness. 

"I'm just sorry okay? How the fuc- I mean hell? was I supposed to know you were the teacher? Like I just - if I had known I woudn't-" 

Luckily for him, Mr. Bodt was a very nice guy and stopped his rambling with a comforting hand. Eren couldn't help but look up into those eyes, hoping he wasn't going to be hated for being an idiot with his maths teacher. 

"Don't worry. I get it, it was a mistake. You couldn't have possibly seen me get in the room while you were sleeping so soundly"

Well, not only had the man been hit on, insulted and embarrassed, he had also noticed Eren's absolute lack of enthusiasm in his class. Goddammit. He still had to try though. 

"I.. Oh god you saw me sleeping. Listen dude, uhhh I mean Mr. Bodt. I'm just really sorry for everything. Can we just.. I don't know, start over?" 

"Al right then." said the man, a gentle smile pulling at his features. It was very pretty. Soothing almost. Like that feeling of being safe inside your home or some shit. 

But then he turned around, and everything crashed around him.   
Had he been mocking him? Was he really that mad to just turn around like that? Was there anything he could do?   
He didn't want any of his teachers to hate him even before they saw his actual grades, even less the hot guy with the great body and the lovely freckles. 

But then, he turned again, extending a hand to him and and basically radiating glee.   
"Hi." he said "I'm Mr. Bodt. Your math teacher". 

The cogs inside Eren's head started to work and he was sure he was frowning. He took the hand between his and the shot of electricity he felt running along his veins wash;t supposed to be there. It wash;t supposed to happen. It just wasn't.   
But then he finally understood. He was getting his second chance. A little bit too literally, but hey, he would take what he got.   
He shook the hand more confidently this time and looked from the freckled hand to the chocolate eyes again.   
He couldn't help the smile on his face. This guy was just too much. 

"Eren. Eren Jaeger" he replied.

"Nice to meet you" Mr. Bodt said.

"Nice to meet you too." Eren responded and he felt as the breath left him in that simple sentence. This guy was literally taking his goddamn breath away. Are you for real?

"Now, if you excuse me, there's a huge cup of coffee waiting for me somewhere." 

Eren nodded, but it was so small, he was sure the teacher didn't catch it. He felt a lot better now and the words basically escaped his mouth without him realizing. "You sure are something Mr. Bodt.

He turned around, more than ready to get some fresh air and out of this situation that made him feel like a teen confessing for the first time. With one last glance at the man behind him, he said "Thank you" 

Then he was running outside as fast as he could. He didn't even looked back to see if Mr. Bodt had heard him or not. He just needed to leave. Two hours with that man were already too much, he couldn't stand 2 minutes more. 

Once he as finally outside he leaned against the big old building, breathing too quickly for his own liking.   
He leaned his head back, resting it agains the concrete as he watched the fluffy clouds pass him by.   
Once his breath was back to a more normal rate, he watched his hand. It felt tingly and the sensation had spread across his body.  
With one last sigh, he touched his chest, feeling the unsteady beating under his skin.

"Well fuck"   
It was only day one, and it hand't even ended yet. This year surely was going to be way much harder than he had thought.


	4. Thirst for the teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco is having a bad day. And it just keeps getting worse and worse.

It had been three days. _Three days_ and already, Marco was overwhelmed. 

He was still in the midst of moving out of his parent's home and into his small apartment not too far away from college among his already busy life. 

Moving was enough of a nightmare for him, what with his siblings constantly unpacking everything their tiny hands could reach and destroying all of his boxes making make-shift forts and cars.

Marco loved them dearly, but with being a new teacher and having to prepare classes and being called into meetings to keep all new teachers at ease and so on.. he didn't really have the time to play with them and redo everything they were currently destroying.

He had left around 10 pm the night before, after his mother had given him a cup of hot cocoa before basically kicking him out with the few boxes that had made it through. 

Apparently his presence was making the twins antsy… as if he hadn't lived there for basically all of his life. Why would they be antsy now? 

Still, he hopped onto his car and drove to his new home with a new kind of tiredness clinging to him. Once he was there, he unpacked the ridiculous amount of tupperware his mom had given him before sitting on the floor of his living room and watching some tv. He knew he still needed to unpack, but he couldn't be bothered after the long day he had.

 

This explained why when his alarm went off that morning, he felt like a stampede had walked all over him multiple times. He had fallen asleep on the floor, with a dirty tupperware denting his ribs and a box barely supporting his head, probably stuck all night in a weird angle.

Marco groaned, not ready to start a new day when he felt he had barely finished the one before. 

But he still got up, got into the shower and started his day.

Unfortunately though, Marco hadn't unpacked his clothes and spent around twenty minutes looking for his pants, making him really late for work. In his frenzy to get to school as soon as possible, Marco had to forego his trademark sweatervest, a move that made his heart hurt just a bit, but something needed to be sacrificed before he himself was sacrificed by Levi if he ran late today. 

 

As he sped down the highway, trying to avoid traffic and multiple bad drivers, Marco finally took a glance at himself. The rearview mirror of his car showed him the wild strands of his dark hair going on every possible way. Marco was really fed up with his day already, and it was barely 7:52. 

Oh my god, he had 8 minutes to make it to class. Marco left aside the hot mess he was at the moment and focused on trying to get there without dying or killing someone on his way.

 

 

When the freckled and disheveled teacher set a foot inside his classroom, silence fell all around. 

All eyes were on him as he set himself on his chair behind the desk, putting his things in some sort of order. 

Marco glanced up. Yup. Just as he had suspected, the amount of students in his class had increased. _Again_. 

Running a hand down his face, he sighed deeply. This had been happening for the past few days and Marco couldn't understand why. 

On his first day he had around 60 to 80 students per class, but now, as each day passed, he gained at least 40 more students. 

It had come to the point where Levi, the principal's right hand, had come to tell him that even though changing courses was a possibility for all students until halfway through the semester, there needed to be a limit or this would easily get out of hand. Especially for a new teacher. 

So, he had to visit Levi everyday after class to give him all the paperwork from all of his new students, and it seemed like today was gonna be no different. Except maybe this time, Levi would actually kill him, if his gaze was anything to go by. 

The mere thought made Marco shiver. He really didn't want to redo all that paperwork, and he certainly didn't want to visit Levi again. Why was this happening to him? What could all these people want? It was statistically impossible for all of these people to be that interested in maths to have changed courses so quickly. 

 

Looking back up, he got an idea why people kept coming, but he tried to ignore it. 

Marco wasn't bad looking, he was rather attractive, if freckled was a thing you enjoyed. But assuming that his increasing amount of students was because of his looks seemed more than just a little vain. 

Nevertheless, as he stood in the center of the classroom, explaining complex theories and hypothesis, he couldn't deny the intense stares he was getting. 

Marco had gotten over the nervousness of being in the spot light on his first day of class, but the hungry stares that were on him at the moment made him hot all over. Suddenly he felt like on that first day of training, and the thought didn't help his current situation.

He started to sweat as he wrote on the board, feeling all those eyes boring into him and watching his every move. Gulping rather loudly, Marco faced them again, secretly praying for the minutes to go faster. 

He didn't want to face all these hungry vultures around him, looking at him like some sort of fresh meat. The image was rather accurate to him, and it made him laugh internally as much as it made him cringe. 

 

All he really needed to do was to focus on something else, keep his concentration on the numbers, on anything but the oppressing feeling he was having thanks to his apparently thirsty students.

He remembered when people used to tell him that if he ever got stage fright, he could always imagine his public in his underwear, but that seemed rather unprofessional ,not to mention, illegal. (probably? to some point?) 

He was shaking his head trying to get rid of the ridiculous idea when his eyes met deep green ones. 

 

Instantly, he felt his cheeks go incredibly red. Maybe imagining his very attractive student almost naked wasn't Marco's best idea, but for a few second he couldn't say he minded the image. 

Eren was smaller than him, but he was obviously fit. He had very defined muscles all around his body, without really being broad and bulky. Marco really liked that about him. Muscly guys had never been his thing anyway. 

 

And then he realized what he was doing. He had basically stopped talking mid sentence, only to lock gazes with one of his students, the one who had basically told him he was cute for that matter, and then just stared with red cheeks and wide eyes. 

Marco quickly looked around, avoiding looking back at Eren as much as possible, for as hard as that seemed after such a… revealing image was ingrained into his already colorful mind. He carried on, hoping it hadn't been as obvious as it had felt, and everyone seemed to just let go and kept on writing once their teacher regained his wits. 

 

When the bell finally rang, Marco let a deep sigh escape him. Today's class had been nerve wrecking to say the least, and he couldn't wait for the rest of his day to be finally over. The bad news was that he still had two two-hour classes left before leaving. Also, there was the chance that he would be flung out of a third floor window when Levi saw even more paperwork on his desk, courtesy of Marco's avid new students.

The papers thrown all over Marco's desk seemed to be more in order than his own thoughts (or general life if you asked him), or at least that was how he felt. His mind kept revisiting that moment when he looked into Eren's eyes and something like a spark seemed to come alive inside his chest. He also had the chance to see Eren's cheeks go a light pink before tearing his eyes away from his face. It made his stomach flutter and his heart to stop because these kind of thoughts were the last thing he should be having. He couldn't get involved with one of his students. He just couldn't. And he wouldn't. He would avoid looking into those amazing eyes and that sinful body even if it was the last thing he did. 

After all, he didn't exactly wanted to get arrested for fondling one his students. The news would probably kill his mother. 

 

More importantly, what was really important right now was for Marco to get out of there and get some lunch. As he turned to head out though, he witnessed Eren picking his things up and messily throwing them into his backpack as a small and very cute guy leaned in to kiss his cheek before taking his hand and leading him out. 

Well, if there was ever a reason why Marco should keep his dirty thoughts about Eren to himself, it was probably that. Or rather him. Eren was not for Marco to look or to think, either because he was a students or because he already had someone in his life.

To say that the sight hadn't bruised his ego a little bit would be a lie, and to assume that he was a bit disappointed was an absolute truth he would need admit.

Marco was having a bad day, and now he added the need to get Eren out of his mind (and sight) to his already long list of awful things he had to do. But before any more sulking, maybe he should get some food. 

Hopefully there would be something with chocolate to appease the pain that was today.

 

 

 - - 

 

 

According to Marco, the world was out to get him today. 

Putting aside all that had happened before, the freckled teacher also had to endure thirty minutes of hell inside the cafeteria as he tried to get his food. 

The cafeteria had never been this crowded before, students and teachers alike, fighting to get served, only to get some awful concoction that nobody with self respect would call food. 

He made his way through the battlefield with his tray in hand, wishing to just get to his table and far away from this inferno.

Since the beginning of his training, Marco had bonded with some of the other student-teachers and they had clicked in record time. Since then, they all gathered on the last table to the right, the one with the big window and the offensive names carved by Ymir.

Today Marco just wanted to sit and whine about his day to his friends and hopefully they would understand and make him feel better.

So, without really thinking or paying any attention, Mr. Bodt made his way towards it, concentrating his focus on the grayish paste that the lunch lady had served him. 

it looked disgusting and unhealthy. Probably toxic or at least life threatening. So, the obvious thing to do was to poke the mysterious thing with a fork, or at least that's what he was doing as he walked to his table. It was more interesting than the constant pushing and cursing going around him anyway. 

 

When he finally made it, he unceremoniously sat on a chair, not really paying attention to his surroundings. He just sat and started talking, hoping his friends would back him up on actually bitching for one day. 

 

"What even is this?" He paused but no one seemed to answer, so he just kept on. "I can't believe it myself, but I'm a little tired of my students already… I'm the worst teacher ever, I can't believe I'm turning into one of you guys and..."

 

Marco stopped talking as he finally looked up and around the table, realizing that not even one of his friends was there, just one other man that he did not know. 

The brunette felt his cheeks going warmer, his mouth opened embarrassingly as he stared at the stranger next to him in utter surprise. 

 

The man had one quirked eyebrow, looking at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to finish his sentence. 

"And?" the man asked.

 

Marco kept his mouth open, fork still in the air as it dripped unknown paste onto the table.

"Aaaand… I don't know you." he finished lamely.

 

"No. I don't. But if it makes you feel better, I haven't even started classes and I already hate them all too." The man answered with a rather appealing smirk on his face. 

 

Hot people made Marco very nervous and kind of sweaty, the kind to over think everything that was happening and getting in his head. But at that moment, he couldn't help but laugh at the sincerity in the reply. 

 

"That seems a little harsh don't you think?"

 

The man seemed to consider it for a moment, but just shrugged it off and shook his head. 

"Naaah"

 

Marco liked him already, and the sharpness of his cheekbones and finesse of his nose could only help that fact. He was elegant looking, like he was from some other country where people were fancy and wore expensive coats. 

 

He stopped his thoughts to actually introduce himself to the other man, he had invaded his lunch time after all. 

 

"I'm Marco, by the way. Marco Bodt." 

 

He extended his hand, waiting for a response. The still unknown guy looked around, kind of panicky and finally wiped his hands on his pants before shoving one into Marco's own hand. 

 

"Uh, Jean. Jean Kirstein."

 

"John?"

 

"Uhh... No. Jean. It's french."

 

"Oh, okay. Sorry about that, Jean you said?"

 

"Yeah, that's it."

 

"Well, nice to meet you Jean. Sorry I kinda interrupted your lunch with my uhh.. weird confessions.."

 

"Oh, uh, that's okay. It has probably been the most exciting part of my day to be honest. Not even the dessert was exciting today.." he said, pointing to his sad yogurt. 

 

"Oh, yeah, don't know what happened to the food today. I've never seen the cafeteria this crazy since I first set a foot here"

 

"So I shouldn't expect more of this at every lunch then?" He smiled, and wow that did things to Marco's insides. 

 

"Hmm, no not really. I mean don't get me wrong, it's still cafeteria food, it's just never really this bad." 

 

"Well, that's good at least. Cause I don't really cook and I was kind of hoping I would get my nourishment here"

 

"That yogurt might be your best bet for today" Marco laughed, pointing at the sad little cup resting on the table. 

 

The new guy, Jean, made a face. Maybe not even that was a choice. 

 

"Not really a big fan of it to be honest. It's just spoiled milk with dry fruit." He said, still scrunching his nose in the process. 

 

It was incredibly cute, and Marco was afraid once again. Apparently being a teacher was a horrible horrible idea, since Marco apparently couldn't stop developing crushes on the students. 

This needed to stop. He needed some space or maybe water since he was obviously very thirsty today. 

 

"It's really not that bad, but here, take this as an apology" Marco slid the little chocolate mousse to Jean before rising from his chair.

 

"Apology? For what?" he asked, taking the cup with a confused expression on his handsome face.

 

"For barging into your lunch. Also, I can imagine it's weird for a student to suddenly have a teacher at his table." Marco said, small and dry unconvincing smile clinging to his features. 

 

"Student?" Jean repeated, clearly still very confused by all of this. 

 

"Yeah. I'm Mr. Bodt. Maths enthusiast"He chuckled while lamely pointing at himself. 

 

"Oh! You think I'm a student! No, no, god no. I'm the new french teacher." 

 

Marco stared at him for a few seconds, truing his best to atone the excitement bubbling up inside of him. _HE'S NOT A STUDENT! THANK YOU GOD!_

Then he remembered that maybe affairs between colleagues wasn't a good idea either and all his joy died quickly in his stomach.

 

"Oh. Okay." 

 

"Well don't look so disappointed." Jean laughed, resting his chin over one of his palms. 

 

"Oh, no. No it's not that. It's just… I don't know. It's been a weird day" the brunette sighed, scratching the back of his neck. 

 

"Well, if it makes you fee any better, I'm not having the best day either" Jean said. And it kinda did. Marco felt a little better.

 

"Now, if you don't mind, you could like.. umm share your thoughts with me while I eat your chocolate mousse?" he asked, and there was a very light pink starting to dust his cheeks and at that moment Marco knew he was doomed. 

 

"I would like that, yeah" 

 

"Well then, Mr. Bodt. I'm all ears" 

 

Jean leaned back against his chair and opened the small dessert. He took a spoonful and slid it slowly down his tongue before looking marco in the eye, waiting for him to start talking. 

The sight made Marco regret his decision instantly, and with a dry swallow to his very dry throat, he tried to avoid any more lewd images to run through his head. 

 

Marco knew from the beginning that this day would be a disaster. He just never knew it would be a torturous kind of day that would test his patience, his will power and most of all, his thirsty little heart. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I have not abandoned this, I'm currently working on the next few chapters but i did have an awful case of writter's block.  
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and I'm open for suggestions!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you again for reading and remember, I'm always open for suggestions and headcanon talks!


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